Walking Your Dog for Exercise

Does the phrase "walk the dog" mean someone needs to open the back door at your house? We all need to exercise more, and your dog gives you the perfect opportunity to work out.

Dogs naturally enjoy walking. There is a huge difference between walking your dog and letting it run around free in a fenced back yard.

Allowing your dog to 'free-range' is great in conjunction with a regular supervised leash walk. Dogs are migratory pack animals by nature, and are genetically built for walking at a steady pace daily. Not walking your dog daily is like giving your pet nothing to do, ever. Which usually is begging for trouble as a bored dog will chew, dig holes, climb fences... anything fun!

There could be no better personal trainer than your dog. What other personal trainer is going to treat you to a fresh air walk every day and curl up on your feet every night? No more getting yelled at by a big muscle-y person. When it's time to walk, your dog simply looks (stares) at the leash and at you (and at the leash and at you, and at the leash and at you) until you have to make a decision. Walk or get a cat.

Once the decision is made (I assume that you are still a dog owner), the correct leash is critical. Do not use a long leash or extension leash for this type of walking. An extension leash is really only for dog parks and other large public areas that allow dogs. This article will help you choose the correct size leash:

Choosing the Right Leash for Training Your Puppy or Adopted Older Dog

For beginner leash training, refer to this article:

How To Leash Train Your Excited Puppy or Older Dog

When you are comfortable walking your dog in your yard, with your dog staying next to your hip or right behind you, you're ready to go for a real fitness walk.

Like any exercise, start with repetitions of small distances. Think about the age and fitness of your dog, as well as yourself. Very young and very old dogs can't walk long distances, and you probably can't make them.

If I walk too far for my dog, he lays down and the walk is over for a while. At this point I can wait it out, or combine weightlifting into my fitness program and carry him home.

Start with short distances and gradually increase, remember it's a round-trip. If you get tired before your dog, it may start to lead you and pull at the leash. This needs to be corrected immediately. Pull the leash taut to your waist and force the dog to walk at your speed. If your pet continues to pull the leash, slow down further (stop if you have to). Keep your pet right at your side, no matter what has its attention.

Your dog should follow you at all times, you are in control of the walk and the pace. If you have to slow down, your pet should automatically slow down. If you have trained your puppy well, it will go into an almost trance-like state when you are walking. Your dog will follow you anywhere (calmly) in this state. As (the dog whisperer) Cesar Millan says, "You are the pack leader".

If your pet is in front of you, it is making all of the decisions (in its puppy brain). This is a huge opportunity for a puppy or dog that wants to see and smell everything right now. Since most dogs have short attention spans when left on its own, your pet will pull you all over the neighborhood.

Leash training your dog can't be stressed enough.

After a short training session or two, you can have your own personal fitness trainer for the price of a bag of good dog kibble.

Reference
http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/